Should Everyone Carry a Gun?

A few years ago, I was visiting my 80+ year old grandfather when he decided one of the trees in his back yard needed to come down. For safety’s sake, he decided to cut off some of the larger branches before he actually cut the whole tree down. To do this, he used a pole-saw. What is a pole-saw you ask? It is a chainsaw on a stick. That’s right, a chainsaw on the end of a 6’ (or longer) stick. In no world is this a safe tool for an 80+ year old man to be using.

But I knew it would be even less safe for me to try and use it. Me wielding a pole-saw would be dangerous to everything around me. So what could I do but watch carefully, ready to call 911 if need be? Luckily, one of his neighbors was out doing yard work at the same time and came over to help. Yay for good neighbors.

What does this have to do with the public carry of guns – concealed or open? Well, how many people would you trust with a pole-saw? How many people would you trust to use a pole-saw around your kids?

I grew up around guns. My father was commanding officer of our local National Guard unit, which happened to be armored cavalry. I played on tanks as a child. I grew up learning gun safety. My brother and I were taken shooting as soon as we expressed any interest. Our house had guns. It had swords. It has compound bows and arrows tipped for bear.

I am still comfortable around guns. I do believe in comprehensive background checks. I do believe that guns should be like cars- you need to be licensed, the guns need to be licensed and the registry has to be updated yearly, and you should be required to carry insurance. But I do not think we need a gun free society.

But I do not, cannot, support this belief that everyone should be carrying a gun. I do not believe that every person with a concealed carry permit makes me safer. And I can be fairly certain of this because of the stupid things that happen – toddlers getting guns out of their mother’s purses and shooting Mom, or from under the seat in Grandma’s car and shooting Grandma in the back. No one was safer because these people had guns, and, in fact, every single one of us was less safe, given that these guns were “stored” in such a way that not only could a child access them, but they could actually fire them. (And it’s not just women who store their guns inappropriately. Kids get Dad’s and Grandpa’s guns, too, and manage to kill people. But somehow it’s always considered a tragic accident and not a preventable death.)

I am a decent shot, in the gun range. I can guarantee you that no one would be safer if I were to carry a concealed weapon. I would never risk shooting an active shooter for fear of hitting an innocent victim, because I am well aware that the gun range and shooting at someone who is shooting back are two very different, and honestly, non-comparable situations.

But I also accept that my feelings are just that, my feelings. So I thought I would reach out to my father and my brother and ask their opinions, especially since we often have very different political views, especially around topics like gun control.

Here is a little background on each of them, as well as what they told me. I did ask specifically about an active shooter situation, such as in Sandy Hook, Roseburg, or San Bernadino – if they would feel comfortable using a gun in that situation, or if they would feel comfortable with a random other person trying to be the “good guy with a gun”.

My brother served six years in the army. He did not see combat, as he was only months away from his service ending in September 2001. He was also in a non-deployable role. However, like me, he grew up with guns, and has continued to collect and shoot on a regular basis. When he went to work in Australia for a few years, his guns came to live with me. He has since moved back, and his gun collection has grown.

If I had a weapon in that type of situation I would probably use it.  That does not mean being comfortable using it, I don’t think I could ever be comfortable shooting at another person, especially with random other people around to get hurt.  Having said that I don’t think I would ever have a weapon in that sort of situation.  I don’t carry concealed and have never felt the need to get a concealed carry permit.  I don’t feel there is much need for a handgun in my life (although now I have several) and don’t see myself carrying one around randomly.  I feel that the biggest problem with hand guns is that if you have one on your person it is too easy to escalate situations to a point where the gun is used.  You might be justified in using it, but if you didn’t have it the situation might never have gotten to a point where one was needed.  I honestly feel this why so many people get shot by cops.  It is too easy to hide behind the gun and people (even cops) escalate situations to the point of using a gun when other options would have been explored otherwise.  I can envision situations where an armed bi-stander shoots a criminal and stops a massacre, but with more people carrying I think we would probably have a rise in shooting’s (legally justifiable in many cases) that would not happen otherwise.  So fewer mass shootings but more individual shootings that would probably balance things out.  It probably wouldn’t make the news and maybe we would all feel safer without the rabble rousing of the media but I don’t believe we would actually be safer.

As I mentioned before, my father was CO of our Guard unit. He was in the military for many years, and served during the Vietnam conflict. I know very little about that time in his life, and no, I have never asked him if he had to kill anyone. What I do know is that he travelled Montana regularly for his job for most of my life, including during the ear of the Freemen, and he had a concealed carry permit for 30 years, but he has let it go in recent years. (Even though he still works as a private investigator.)

He is, honestly (though I admit I may be a bit biased) one of the people I think could make the rest of us safer by carrying a weapon.

Yes, I believe I could [shoot in an active shooter situation], but I would not be comfortable with just anyone shooting.  It’s more than being able to hit the target when the adrenaline flows and there is someone shooting back.   First time hunters have buck fever, this is worse.  There are close combat courses that would help a lot as they put you under a lot of pressure and help teach you to deal with it.  Also there is the weapon.  A lot of people prefer the really short barreled pistols for concealed, but they lack a lot in accuracy past about 6′.  A 6″ barrel is better.  There should be gun safety courses that major in concealed carry and these would also be good…
Remember, your brain is your most potent weapon.

I am not saying there are not people who could make us all safer by carrying guns. But most of us, myself included, would be more of a danger to the other innocents around us than we would be to the shooter. Because we do not have the training.

In the end, it all comes down to that last line from my father for me. The idea that if we all carried guns – open or concealed – is replacing our brains with bullets, and that is never a good idea.